Citation

Honda K, Abeysinghe S, Leppold C, Williams AL, Ozaki A, Goto A. JMA J. 2024; 7(2): 279-281.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Japan Medical Association ; The Japanese Association of Medical Sciences)

DOI

10.31662/jmaj.2023-0145

PMID

38721083

PMCID

PMC11074526

Abstract

Health research around disaster is an expanding field, reflecting the frequency and severity of climate-related events as well as other forms of disaster. After a disaster occurs, affected populations and places become prominent sites of research activity. Such activities have the potential to benefit communities but can also be a cause of further stress. There continues to be a lack of consensus around the practical ethics of health and disaster research (1), prompting further reflection on what constitutes contextually-sensitive ethical practice in this field.

It has been over 10 years since the Fukushima 3.11 "triple disaster" of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. While the health, social, and political impacts of 3.11 continue (2), the time that has elapsed since the acute disaster phase has allowed for broader reflection around the research strategies that occurred in order to adapt these for future events. Following a series of interviews with researchers in July 2023, the project "Ethically Researching Health and Disasters: 3.11 and Beyond" brought together researchers at Fukushima Medical University to discuss learnings from the past decade of 3.11 health research. It is essential to assess the impacts of research activities following 3.11 (3) to bring about practical recommendations for future health and disaster research. ...

Language: en

Keywords

3.11; disaster; ethics; Fukushima